The Woyanne ethnic apartheid junta in Ethiopia has sent thousands of troops to Sudan in a convoy of over 100 military trucks and equipment late last week, according to eyewitnesses at the Ethiopia-Sudan border.
Ethiopian Review sources have reported that the military convoy was heading to the Sudanese city of Al Qadarif.
Yesterday and today South Sudan is holding a referendum on independence and it is feared that the outcome of the vote could lead to violence, although Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has said he will let the oil-rich south secede peacefully.
AP has reported that at least 30 people were killed today in Abyei region along Sudan’s north-south border.
United Nations spokesman Martin Nesirky said Monday the organization is “extremely concerned” about the reports of clashes and casualties in Abyei.
“The mission is in the process of confirming the numbers (of casualties), and containing the situation with enhanced patrols and engaging with the top leadership,” Nesirky said at a regular news briefing at U.N. headquarters.
The Woyanne junta is expected to take Khartoum’s side in any dispute, creating a possible favorable environment for Ethiopian opposition groups to establish relations with South Sudan.
AP reports that jubilant voters in South Sudan flooded polling stations for a second day on Monday. The seven days of balloting are likely to produce an overwhelming vote for independence.
U.S. President Barack Obama praised the timely start of the referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan and urged all sides to refrain from intimidation, coercion or violence and to allow voters to freely and peaceably express their will.
“The world will be watching in the coming days,” Obama said in a January 9 statement. He said the United States is fully committed to helping all Sudanese solve post-referendum issues such as borders, refugees and the sharing of oil revenues “regardless of the outcome of the vote.”
Obama warned that some Sudanese may try to disrupt the process, and said voters “must be allowed access to polling stations, and must be able to cast their ballots free from intimidation and coercion.”
“All sides should refrain from inflammatory rhetoric or provocative actions that could raise tensions or prevent voters from expressing their will,” he said, adding that violence in the Abyei region, where 36 people reportedly have been killed since the start of the vote, “should cease.”
U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration and Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry are in Sudan to witness the referendum.
Speaking to reporters January 9, Senator Kerry said the voting “sends an important message about the ability to solve problems in ways other than in choosing violence.”